The Chamber's Environmental Statement, released in January this year, encompasses a broad range of issues which take into consideration its multifarious membership.

"Basically we want to encourage all members to look at their operations and see how they can benefit from being more environmentally aware and astute," says James Pearson, EHS M&A Advisor, ERM Hong Kong, who helped draft the statement.

Being environmentally aware could include absolutely anything from recycling paper to having contract cleaners use more environmentally friendly detergents when cleaning the office, he said.

Moreover, every aspect of a business' operations has a financial impact and if companies identify their environmental aspects and costs they can reap the economic benefits that come with them.

Through education, the committee hopes to help companies understand that being "green" not only benefits the environment, but also their back pocket.

"Looking at environmental issues can help you identify cost savings, which can increase your efficiency and in turn your competitiveness," he said.

"If you are dumping waste, then that waste has had to have come into your hands one way or another. You have paid for that waste in some form, and now you have to throw it away," Mr Pearson explained.

"Say you are throwing 100 tones of waste away per month, and say you pay US$100 per ton to dispose of it; that's a lot of cash to throw away. So of course it makes good business sense to want to reduce the amount you are throwing away."

In Hong Kong we do not yet have to pay for waste disposal, but moves are afoot to change this. Once this law is in place, a significant impact to construction costs will be realised. Mr Pearson said it makes good business sense to start looking at how to reduce waste now and have reduced costs when charges are implemented than to pay later.

Producing an environmental report can help a company identify which areas of their operations will benefit from being more environmentally astute. The type and size of business will reflect the complexity of a company's environmental report, but even small businesses can instil action and pride within employees by producing even a one- or two-paragraph environmental statement. It will also encourage more companies to pay closer attention to what they are doing and help them understand where they are going, Mr Pearson said.

This includes the financial and insurance sectors as well as manufacturing sectors, because many institutions have not assessed the environmental risks that their investments represent or how they should be minimised.

The issue of contaminated land is also becoming more of an issue in Hong Kong, and the committee will be looking at ways to help members understand what's going on, and the environmental and cost implications behind it.

In Taiwan, for example, the Executive Yuan this January passed the Soil and Groundwater Pollution Remediation Act, the most comprehensive of its kind in Southeast Asia.

The new legislation sets soil and groundwater contamination standards for three types of land use and prescribes cleanup and remediation requirements where these standards have been exceeded. Although this presents increased responsibility for landowners and users, it also provides a more defined framework for contamination standards and clean-up liability.

By requiring soil pollution inspection documentation during property transfer, property owners or occupiers who generate pollution on a property will remain liable for that pollution following the on-sale or lease to other parties. New owners and occupiers of land need to have the correct investigations and documentation in place in order to reduce the risk of future liability.

Requiring companies to clean up after themselves will ultimately lead to them becoming as environmentally alert as possible, benefiting both themselves, in terms of reducing costs and improved efficiency, and the environment.